Fragile
by Twisted Ink Incorporated
Summary: After two years, Ed is brought back into the military by Mustang when tensions increase between Drachma and Amestris. But Ed isn't the same brat that Roy used to know. He's different. Ed claims past illness but Roy knows there is something else going on, something deeper than the flesh. All Ed can focus on is revenge against the Drachman rebel that shot him through the heart. RoyEd


**All-Encompassing Disclaimer That Will Not Be Used Again Because It Hurts Too Much To Write:**** I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist- any of the characters that are used from the anime are used purely for my and my readers' entertainment. I make no monetary gain off of this fanfiction and in no way intend for this to be abusive to the anime/manga/creators in any way. **

**Warning: This is EdxRoy, which means that it is 'slash' (gay romance) so please, if you take offence to such things, leave now before your eyeballs melt and you leave me an angry review. Wait. Leave the angry review first, then leave. I'll take what I can get. xD**

**Note: This story was inspired by a writer on here- BeautifulFiction. While in no way will it copy any of her works or ideas, I suggest you take a look at her fanfictions if you like EdxRoy. They are AMAZING! I like to give authors their credit, even when it's just for jump-starting my plot bunnies. Wait. I'm throwing my business onto someone else... OH WELL! She is fantastic, check her out when you have a chance.**

**EVERYONE ELSE ENJOY~! **

CHAPTER ONE: Cold 

Rain pelting down- needles and teardrops and millions of scattered memories falling to the earth in a symphony. No, wait… a cacophony… too loud…

Golden eyes squeezed tight before fighting to open. Dilated pupils flickered to a gray-blue sky full of steely clouds. Pain and darkness as everything blurred and dimmed.

Light. With the light came the pain. Hands gripped his arms tightly- what awakened him- bruising and harsh as his back scraped over earth and rocks that felt more like glass shards imbedding into his already beaten and bloody flesh. He was too dizzy, too weak to understand…

Unconsciousness was a heady flow of precarious comfort. He knew he was unconscious because of the absence of feeling, which he was thankful for at the moment. Usually he was the type of person to fight these soothing depths with all his might. After all, with lack of feeling came lack of information- he liked, no, he needed to know what was going on around him at all times. Except for now. Now he was perfectly happy to relinquish hold of reality. Going through memories in his head made for unpleasant dreams, but at least he got to see his brother in his mind at least. He never got to say goodbye. His brother should have seen this much coming at least. After all, this is why they fought and expressed themselves so passionately to one another. With their experiences, they knew that any time could be the last time they saw each other.

Heat began to bubble up into that darkness and he fought against it, trying to ignore it, struggling to keep it at bay. Nothing could stop the monolithic burst of shock from striking him straight in the chest though.

Golden eyes snapped open faster than possible, dragging him into horrible, unforgiving wakefulness in a split second. Agony screeched and scraped through his body, curling and sticking at his chest, causing a twin sound to burst from his lips- a shriek more animal than human that rang through the silence. The ripping and cracking of his chest paused as his scream went so high it failed, his throat freezing around the pain.

"Calm down. You're going to live."

The deep voice failed to penetrate the haze of shock and red that clouded the blonde's every sense. Continuing to render his body to pieces, the pain continued, and darkness began to bleed into the boy's vision despite the nearly hyper-focus on every nerve that was being snapped. An image popped unbidden and extremely unwanted into his mind- broken ribs thrust into the air from a cold stone floor, blood fanning out in a morbid puddle, washing away clean white chalk in its greedy hunger.

Nausea coiled, oily and thick, in his stomach. Was he like that now? His chest pried open to reveal everything as his life drained away? And how did this happen? Why was this happening?

What felt like iron claws reached in- deeper than anything should ever go into one's chest- and gripped tight. The breath caught in the young man's throat. There were then about seven seconds of complete comprehension. He was suffocating. He could feel every ridge of the hands that held him- every shallow, calm breath of the person bowing over his body, every single tiny shatter of the drops of rain that exploded on his skin. Every pulse in which blood seeped from his body from multiple wounds. A raindrop falling past his torturer to splash in his chest. It was the strangest feeling, a raindrop falling right where there was now nothing. There should have been something. But...

The thudding beat of life he had never went without was now gone.

A moment later the pain disappeared and the breath fled from his lungs in a stuttered cry. The darkness, colder and deeper this time, crept back to take him. Even if he wanted to, he never would have been able to fight it this time.

Edward Elric fell into oblivion.

* * *

Roy Mustang rose to chaos.

The morning had gone perfectly normal- wake up, coffee, shower, dress, more coffee, paper, then out the door.

And then he walked into his office.

He ducked a coffee mug and was shocked to see that Havoc was the one that had thrown it. And that the man had an actual lit cigarette in his mouth. Brigadier General Mustang opened his mouth to unleash his irritation on the blonde but was beat.

"Why haven't you picked up your phone sir? Hawkeye and I have been calling all night."

Bewildered navy eyes looked around the room but the rest of his men had their eyes downcast. They were all pale and exhaustion seemed to be a mist fluttering about the room. Or a fog so thick that it was steadily smothering his men.

"What's happened?" his irritation now forgotten, his back straightened and eyes narrowed at the disorder that cluttered the desks. He'd noticed soldiers running about in the halls but had taken no note until now. There was always some disaster going on at all times, but for it to affect his own command…

"Unrest in Drachma," Hawkeye strode in the door behind him, nudging him farther into the room before closing the door behind her, sealing the room off from the rest of Central Command, "Overnight a violent coup has risen up- a group that has declared war on Amestris. The Drachman government is reportedly not involved but it's a large resilience that we're dealing with."

Roy needed only glance at her expression to know the seriousness of the situation. Her pretty face was stone-cold with only a pinch between her eyebrows to show her distress.

"The North Branch has already been attacked and the Fuhrer has rallied troops from the East and South to protect the northern border. At least fifty soldiers have already been reported dead." Fuery shook his head sorrowfully and went back to separating and organizing documents, having never looked up. Breda, beside him, was also looking down but had his arms firmly crossed. Falman leaned against the wall on the other side of the room and appeared calm but Roy could see a muscle twitching subtly in his jaw.

"Do we know anything more about this group? Who's leading it?"

"Right now we don't know anything," Hawkeye answered immediately, "Investigations is conducting its research as we speak. We cannot move forward until we know more. We also cannot cross the border to Drachma without risking a war breaking out."

Roy took the closest seat and twined his fingers together under his chin. A group in Drachma against Amestris. That wasn't so surprising but it also wasn't exactly expected. Tension had been growing between Amestrians and Drachmans for a while. Economy was the biggest problem. Trading between the two had been falling out since the Drachmans were becoming poorer and poorer every year, which meant they were requesting more money for their produce. Of course when that happened Amestris wasn't willing to buy, which left the Drachmans that much less earnings. Economic growth in Drachma had been at a near standstill for the past few years. There had to be something else, though. Something to have caused the sudden hatred. A final straw. But what?

"Where do we stand in this?" his tone made it clear that he meant only the people in the room.

Hawkeye hesitated, leaving Havoc to jump in and bring the hammer down, "Because of the stress on Investigations at the moment we are to take over their Crimes division for now."

Roy's eyes narrowed once more, "Police work? Are you kidding? Who gave this order?"

"General Hakuro delivered it, sir, but it's the Fuhrer's direct orders."

So they were trapped with exhausting mundane work. Mustang would rather filter through military bullshit for hours than be running around the streets collecting clues and forming theories. The military Investigations' Crime department usually dealt with homicides that the police didn't have the manpower to solve- and of course the police weren't allowed to traipse their blue-collars all over a military crime scene.

Why Fuhrer Malo would put his command on that department though was lost to him completely. What was the point? Other than everyone in Investigations being busy? There were plenty of other generals that could take over that position. Hell, a colonel could do it just as well as most of the generals here. There had to be a greater reasoning to it. Malo knew him too well to hand off hound work to him for the hell of it.

Mustang bowed his head. Only five minutes past eight and he was already exhausted. And his head was now throbbing too much for him to really analyze the situation to the extent of coming to conclusions.

"Alright then," he sighed, waving a careless hand at Hawkeye, "lieutenant, you can be our bridge between Investigations. You're the only one that has been working with me long enough to know what my next steps will be. And since we'll probably be on the streets most of the time, we'll need you to be backing us up with communications. Fuery, you're our messenger. Stay here and radio lieutenant Hawkeye's updates to us whenever possible. Breda and Havoc, you're with me. Falman, you especially have the most experience in this area so you'll be our communications liaison with the police. I believe the Crime Department's is unavailable at the moment. Alright people. Let's get to work."

* * *

Three weeks. Three weeks of running around Central City doing a whole lot of nothing. And then this. Roy Mustang was thoroughly exhausted as he wrenched yet another of the gunmen by the arm and half-threw him to Havoc. It had been a rather boring standoff. Five men had gone around the city committing petty crimes of robbery and minor assault. The only reason the police were pushed off the case is because the bandits had to up and rob a military supply store at gunpoint.

All that was needed to end the situation quickly and cleanly was a few flashes of sparks at Roy's fingertips and some very hot, metal-branded hands.

"That's the last of them," he all but growled, patting invisible specks of dust and wrinkles from his navy and silver uniform.

Another hour passed of writing up and signing documents to hand the criminals off to the police before Roy slid into the passenger seat of his military car, arms folded in weary resentment of the jobs he was now having to do. Havoc climbed behind the wheel and let out a heavy sigh before gunning the ignition, barely pausing for Falman to jump in the back.

It took twenty minutes to get back to Central Command and by then Roy was half-asleep, only to be shaken awake by Havoc. As one, the tired soldiers rose out of the car and practically staggered across the parade ground, almost sobbing in relief as the sun began to set in tones of reds and pinkish violets.

They were all silent, not saying a word as they trudged up the stairs to the office. When Havoc threw open the door, they barely even glanced at the room before collapsing into different chairs. Except for Falman, who resiliently leaned against a wall with crossed arms.

"General, we have a guest."

Roy grunted at Hawkeye's words and rubbed his eyes before looking up. His jaw then promptly dropped at the sight of the brunette standing in the middle of the room staring holes through him.

"Alphonse. This is a surprise. We haven't seen you or your brother around in a very long time. What can I help you with?"

Because the Elrics never just dropped in to say hi. In fact, Roy had come to detest their randomly showing up- it meant a catastrophe was just around the corner that Roy's command would surely be dragged into. The teenager's shoulders slumped, making the short-ish strands of chocolate hair bounce over the pale cheeks. Al had never had Ed's unusual honey skin. Roy had thought at first it was because Al didn't get enough sun, but it appeared now that the boy's skin was just naturally pale.

"Actually, Brigadier-General-

"Please, Al. Just Roy is fine. We've known each other long enough to drop the formalities."

Al tilted his head in nervous agreement before going on, fiddling with his sleeves, "I came here because of Ed, um, Roy. He needs help and no matter what I do or say he won't listen to me."

"What's going on?" Mustang leaned forward, attentively attuned to the boy. It was rare that Al couldn't influence Ed. Something big must have happened for Ed to totally ignore his brother's pleas.

"You know the ruins of Himega, right?"

"Of course."

"Well, Ed's been there for almost three months now. Researching, I think. He won't let me help or even see his data. It's just not like Ed. He hasn't been taking care of himself, either. He won't eat or rest- I had to shove food into his hands for him to eat but there's nothing I can do about making him sleep. I just need help."

"And you think I can help?" Roy was beyond incredulous at this point. The only person that could make Fullmetal see reason was Alphonse. Who was Roy to Ed? A bastard general that manipulated him since childhood and who he constantly proclaimed he hated.

"Yes," Al said adamantly, uncertainty fading into a set expression of total confidence.

Roy held eye contact despite how much he wanted to glance over at his team. Those gray-blue eyes shown with both a plea and a demand. Only Al could pull such an expression off. And only Al would be the one to make Roy cripple under it.

Before he knew it Roy was on a train heading towards North City. Unfortunately that was just the first stop. It was about a two days' ride to Himega from Central. Roy Mustang sighed, lowering himself further in the booth, looking out the window and trying to ignore the rattling of metal around him and the bump and jolt of rusted tracks under hissing wheels.

Two days turned into three when there was a large delay. The north was under even more paranoia and stress than Roy realized. Yes, these people were bordering the country that wanted to crush Amestris, but were triple and quadruple checks of each train compartment needed? Every time they stopped at a station- even the random country bumps- the farther north he got, the longer the checks took. One would think a state of emergency had been called. Had it? He really had no way of knowing.

He sighed and finally got off at his last stop- the very small town of Tagy. He would get supplies here and then head out to Himega. It was on foot from here. For a moment he wished he'd brought Hawkeye, but he knew his command would collapse if anyone else came along. They were struggling enough even when he was there. A shot of worry crawled through his veins and thickened in his heart for a second before he shook it off. They would be fine. They were the few people he truly trusted in this world.

Trust was dear and fragile these days.

The townspeople greeted him with open arms, excited for such a high military official to be in their town. He received many bold questions as to why he was here and if there would be more defenses assigned to Tagy. Roy could only smile and give vague answers. It was impossible for him to promise anything at this point since now even he had no idea what was going on. It had been three days. A lot could happen in just hours, let alone three days.

Still, he got very gracious discounts on the dry foods, packs, water, and lanterns with oil that he needed. Not knowing what to expect when he found Edward, he also got blankets and medicine. It was cold, and if Elric wasn't taking care of himself that could get dangerous really fast.

While looking over the medicinal herbs, a conversation started up between another customer and the herbalist.

"Yeah, you actually saw him? That weirdo out in the ruins?" the herbalist asked.

Roy sidled discretely closer as the customer nodded vigorously.

"Wearing red. The guy didn't even look up when I was right there trying to talk to him. It's creepy. Wonder what the hell happened to him to be that…"

"Traumatized?"

The man nodded with even more enthusiasm.

Roy finally decided this was the time to step in. He gave up the appearance of looking at teas and looked between the two men, "This man…"

They startled and stared at him with surprise.

"Did he have golden blonde hair? Gold eyes? Was he short?"

"Yeah," the customer smirked a bit, "little fellow alright. You described him to a T. Friend of yours, um…?"

"Brigadier-General Roy Mustang," he extended a hand which was almost reverently shaken, "and he's more of a colleague. You said he wouldn't even look at you?"

"That's right. There've been rumors going around town a while now. The first time someone noticed he was out there was a month or two back. He won't talk to anyone, won't come in town, and won't even look at us. A lot of the women in town go up there just to leave him baskets of food but he never touches them. Do you know his story?" The man was extremely curious and leaned toward Roy a bit, hoping to get all the juicy details.

Mustang took a slight step back and kept up a polite smile, "Not particularly, no. He's just another subordinate."

Lie. One of the biggest lies he'd ever told. Edward and him had been through far too much together to be considered just co-workers now. They were bound by so much more. But no one here needed to know that. To them, Ed was just some kind of mad recluse.

Mustang left the town quickly after that, taking the faded but still identifiable trail that would lead to the ruins. Many people- whether tourists, researchers, or treasure hunters- still made the venture to ruins all over Amestris. There were many places like Himega spread across the country, places that had crumbled centuries ago but were still there to attest their tale through time by the skeletons of what they used to be.

Tagy had been cold, but as the land steadily began to incline it got worse, until finally it began to snow. Roy pulled his hood over his head and scanned the white horizon ahead of him, dread building deep in his gut like some kind of wriggling creature. It was colder here than he thought it was. Already almost as if he was in the mountains. And Edward had been living in this for months?

Now he could understand Alphonse's concern. They all knew how Ed was when he was researching or obsessing over something.

Just a few hours passed before the cold and the weight of the pack on his back was getting to him. His breath came out in gusts of white fog and went in like icicles stabbing straight into his lungs, imbedding themselves and infecting the rest of his body with ice. The snow became deeper and deeper until he was practically wading through it, barely able to lift his feet over the top.

The sun was beginning to begin its slow dive to the west when Roy finally climbed over the top of a large hill and gazed down at the valley cradled between similar peaks. The ruins of Himega laid spread out before him, like shattered skeletons being steadily buried under the near-constant assault of snow and ice. Fleeting and shallow, the memories and cultures of the Himegan people had all but disappeared over the centuries.

Himega was a settlement- one of the first in Amestris and a bit similar to Ishval0 that was the most northern place besides North Command. Two centuries ago most of the Himegans were wiped out by the early Amestrians over a dispute of the land. And while the Amestrians had alchemy and technology, the Himegans lived completely for and from the land, supposedly. They were peaceful until their nature was threatened.

In the distance Roy could see the peaks of those wretched mountains that the Himegans fought to protect. Such a strange thing to die for, he thought.

"Alright, Fullmetal," Roy said to himself, burrowing deeper into his thick, fur-lined navy coat, "you better be dead or dying for me to have come all this way."

Searching for the unruly blonde took hours. The sun was now diving quickly towards the west, warping the sky that followed it into a myriad of purples, reds, and gold, also taking the last vestiges of heat with it. Roy's fingers and toes were completely frozen and his arms were wrapped around himself as he stalked resolutely through two-foot high snow, patience fading faster than the light.

Just as he was contemplating settling down for the night, he saw him.

A bright flash of red against the white, scrambling around the snow just a few meters to Roy's right. He'd almost missed the small form amidst the enormous ruins.

"Fullmetal!" he called and waved but the blonde never looked up.

Frowning, the general made his way over the ground, noticing that the snow had been cleared in this area. When he was finally close enough to see what Edward was doing he paled even further, feet stumbling before bursting into a sprint. Ed straightened and a split second before his palms came together Mustang barreled into him, sending them both rolling and tumbling onto icy stone in a flurry of limbs and yells.

Roy didn't even hear the clap or see the flash of alchemy through his ringing ears and foggy eyes, but once they stopped moving there was a blade pointed at his neck and wild golden eyes were narrowed at him. How the lithe blonde had landed on his feet Roy had no idea.

"What the fuck, Mustang? What the hell are you doing out here? And why are you trying to kill me?"

"Why are you trying to kill yourself, Fullmetal?" Roy snapped back, gesturing back to the clearing, "I know a purely destructive transmutation circle when I see one! And you were about to pump double the power into it! Why are you suicidal?"

Looking honestly dumbstruck, Ed turned around and then back to the general before comprehension appeared. Then the already fiery blonde was pissed in true Elric fashion, making Roy almost cry with relief.

"You absolute bastard idiot! That circle has modifications- the explosion is all channeled downwards. I'm not trying to kill myself, you jerk."

General Mustang let his shoulders sag and a heavy breath was released from his aching lungs. Then he shifted awkwardly, clearing his throat.

"Fullmetal, if you wouldn't mind…?"

Again, Ed looked confused. Roy tilted his head to indicate how the teenager had practically straddled him in an attempt to pin down his attacker. A furious blush abruptly washed over Ed's sun-kissed face and the blonde scrambled off of him, careful not to hit Mustang with his steel-rimmed boots. He even went a step further and offered a hand. Surprised, Roy accepted it and let Ed help pull him to his feet.

And then Edward's mood was swinging again as he whirled around with tightly crossed arms. The small male stalked back to where the transmutation circle was and circled around it slowly, eyes darting over every tiny edge and detail. Probably double-checking to make sure that nothing was smudged or scratched off when Roy tackled him.

Mustang followed, doing his own analysis. As always, Edward's work was beyond flawless. It had a personal fringe in every swoop of the lines, in the clean but spiraling precision of the chalk, in the eight intersecting, fractured lines that cut through the middle of the circle like unforgiving daggers. It was beautiful, not a single line out of place except for the broken center lines. Tiny runes were spread intermittently through it- energy conductors. That's where all the alchemic power would gather when the circle was activated, then it would be sucked into the lines that cut in toward the center. And when those lines met their abrupt ends, many small explosions would erupt, creating one large blast. It was so simple, yet obviously called for complex thinking.

Ed probably hadn't even had to pause before starting to draw. No one would deny his genius at alchemy.

"Well, Mustang. Can I do this or are you going to tackle me again?"

Roy wasn't used to that teasing tone. He looked at Ed to see that liquid gold eyes were locked onto him calculating. A half-smirk, half-scowl was fixed on those bow-shaped lips. Odd. Was Ed trying to be friendly?

Crossing his arms, Roy nodded toward the circle as he began to walk backward slowly, "Knock yourself out, brat."

Ed growled and grumbled, but the expected retaliation didn't come. The blonde merely clapped his hands together and fell to one knee, slapping his hands to the edge of the circle, sending double the transmutation through the circumference. Blue and white light crackled out from his hands to run around the circle, immediately shadowed and consumed by bright scarlet and white light. The air cracked around it and Roy winced at the tendril of wild, raw power that snapped across the clearing, barely missing his face.

"Shit!" Ed laughed, turning slightly to glimpse Roy's pale expression, "I guess one got away. Sorry!"

A split second later all the light and energy was sucked into the middle of the circle, then exploded downward in a silent blast of harsh light. A wave of hot energy discharge swarmed outward at light-speed, punching Roy straight in the chest and almost knocking him on his ass. He barely caught himself and sucked in a shocked breath. Ed was now standing at the edge of a clean-cut hole in the ground that looked deep. Mustang strode forward, to the blonde's side, and gazed down. The stone lasted for just about five or six feet before falling out into total darkness, as if…

"There's a chamber down there?"

Glancing to the left, he caught Ed's expression and felt concern tremble through his limbs. Pure obsession shone in half-glazed eyes as the boy stared down the hole. He nodded absently, as if he wasn't fully there as he answered Roy.

"By my research and the layout of what we can see above ground, part of the city had sank. Maybe because of an earthquake, a shift, something, but right under our feet? That's the Himegan city cathedral."

"I thought you didn't believe in religion, Fullmetal?"

"Of course not," the young alchemist snorted at the thought, "but a people's religion can say a lot about their culture- things that we can't learn through other means. A temple's architecture will actually say much more, and that's what I hope I can get a look at. Out here you see a lot of columns, a lot of stone, right?"

Roy looked around and nodded hesitantly, "I can't really see for sure but yes that looks about right." The skeletons of buildings were hard to assemble in one's mind after all. Except Ed had had months to study them.

"Now if the structure or architectural fundamentals and design are different, we know that we can glean a lot more from a religious house. I need to get down there."

Ed crouched and clapped his hands again, pressing them to the mirror-smooth edge of the entrance. A ladder appeared, shooting down from the edge and steadily drawing from the length of the stone in the edge. Deciding to loan a hand, Roy snapped his fingers and drew the gases at his disposal down past the edge, into the darkness. He dropped five flames from his fingers like rocks. They fell straight down, creating streaks of light. Once they reached the bottom he fed them more fuel. The fire reached out in lines, shooting beyond eyesight.

Roy finally crouched down next to Ed as they both peered farther in. Roy was now drawn into the mystery, curious and barely feeling the cold anymore. The clouds his breath caused mingled with those smaller and more frequent ones of Ed's. Squinting, he could almost make out the bottom.

"That's not stone," came Ed's small whisper.

Slightly tilting his head, Mustang leaned even further, bringing him closer to Ed, "No, it looks like white marble."

From the corner of his eye Roy could see Ed's nose wrinkle, "Marble? Is that common around here?"

"I'm surprised you don't know, Fullmetal. The closest place that has natural white marble is Xing. We have to have it imported, and it's not cheap."

"So how the hell did it get all the way out here?" Ed murmured, ignoring the jab as he finally moved to climb down the ladder. Roy shifted backwards to give him more room and clamped a worried hand on Ed's small flesh shoulder when the blonde swayed on his feet for a moment.

"Maybe you should rest for a minute," Roy offered.

Pure venom was shot at him from those feral eyes, giving him all the answer necessary. Ed continued down without another word, but Roy noticed how tight the young man's gloved hands were gripping each clumsy stone rail. Roy lent the blonde more light before following at a faster pace. They descended for what seemed like forever, until the opening above them was just a small glimpse of fading daylight- a spot amidst the darkness. The structure must have been over seventy feet high at one point.

Idly wondering how stable it was now that it was buried, Roy's feet finally touched the ground only moments after Ed moved out of the way.

"Mustang, some light?"

Roy snapped and flames darted in every direction, collecting in corners and paving paths along walls and ringing columns. Wherever they were, it was huge, and all made of rare white marble with bruises of gray veins twirling through the glass-like stone. Roy turned in a circle, noting the large, completely untouched door behind them. The room was long and somewhat slim, edged with three rows of columns that ran in straight lines from the front entrance and further down the room.

The alchemists met eyes for a beat of a moment. Roy knew he wouldn't be able to stop Edward. Edward knew that he knew that. Without a word, the blonde began to move down the room with confidence, head high and eyes darting every which way. Sighing, Roy followed and snapped more sparks into existence, lighting their way with a flick of the wrist. It took almost a full minute to reach the other end of the room- it had to be at least a hundred feet long. The whole building was beginning to make Roy feel small, insignificant, and powerless. Even as he was standing tall with an iron-rod straight back, he felt as if he was slumping and cringing as he walked, drawing in on himself and trying to disappear from the empty memories scattered in every crevice that he passed.

Ed didn't seem to feel the same way. Instead, he was entrapped in the mystery of the place and didn't even hesitate when they reached the smaller archway at the other end. He strode through it boldly, messy ponytail whipping back and forth as he glanced around. Roy's fire shot forward and up to illuminate the room. It was circular in a way, eight angles that ran around, with a single row of columns lining the wall. In the center of the room was what could only be described as an altar- a black, rectangular slab of marble. Three other doorways led off into darkness straight ahead, to the left, and to the right.

The altar room was smaller than the one before, the ceiling falling closer to the ground. But what seemed to catch Ed's attention the most was the marble pews built into the floor, surrounding the steps that lead up to the altar in a perfect circle. There were only three rows of the pews, and everything else was blank. No sign that anyone had been here in hundreds of years, not even rodents or spiders. There was just the faintest layer of dust and dirt laid upon everything like a second skin.

"No."

The whisper echoed around eerily, making it sound as if the small noise of denial came from the very walls. Ed's look of obsession had crashed into one of pure grief and hopelessness. It was at this point that Roy realized that Ed wasn't looking for just the architecture. He had been anticipating something specific.

"What were you looking for?" Roy tried to ask gently, but it came out in a strong, sharp, militaristic tone.

It snapped Ed out of his fugue. The young man shook his head dazedly and dropped his eyes to the ground, "Something, anything mechanical. Maybe alchemical. SOMETHING. Not just… this."

He swiped an arm in an arcing gesture that encompassed the entire building, still not raising his eyes. Roy was dumbstruck.

"Ed, why were you looking for that? You know the Himegans were dedicated to nature."

"Just a theory," that was a horribly said lie. An average civilian could have detected it. Ed must have forgotten he was talking to Roy Mustang, the master of deception and manipulation, "and because everything down here is marble, I…"

His small words drifted into the enveloping silence of the place, and Roy was suddenly at a loss of what to say. What had happened to his past subordinate? This wasn't like Edward at all. It was almost like he was just grasping at random straws, hoping to pull one up that had some kind of importance.

Roy had been through enough war and friends with PTSD to recognize the signs of a man falling and reaching for something- anything- to grab onto.

He let Edward's thoughts draw out for some time more, just standing back and watching the teenager slightly. There was exhaustion obvious in the sluggish movements he was making- a stuttering scrape at times when Ed didn't fully lift his feet off the ground when walking. A slump in his shoulders and a downward tilt of his chin. Or there were the most obvious signs- the messy hair that was barely in a ponytail with loose strands falling out everywhere and a greasy sheen to it that spoke of quite a few days' time of neglect, and the dark shadows scarred under vague golden eyes that were usually so sharp and narrow with sarcasm and a quick wit.

Prodigy fallen, was Roy's thought. Maybe now that he was finally out of the military he was at a loss of what to do with the rest of his life. He may not have succeeded at getting his arm and leg back but at least Al was whole once more. And the last time Mustang checked, Ed was fairly accepting of the fact that he may never get his original limbs back. That left the blonde without an ironed-out goal.

When Roy was beginning to feel the fatigue descending on his weary body, he dropped his pack onto one of the pews farthest from the altar. He wouldn't admit it, but the sight of the contrasting black slab made him uneasy. Half of him wondered if the early Himegans did any strange rituals with it, like sacrificing livestock. Shaking it off, he began to draw a transmutation circle for a fire, cursing at first when it seemed impossible because of numb fingers and a poor gas flow down here. His other, smaller fires had been fighting for survival, flickering weakly. Finally, though, he managed to draw a strong, reliable circle and added in a circulation rune to keep the fire going throughout the night.

Ed, who was standing with his palms planted against the altar, probably thinking and planning in his mysterious little head, jumped when Roy activated the transmutation circle. Blue and white light flared for a moment and there was the familiar sound of light crackling, before it all faded and left a large fire in the center of the circle. Roy breathed a small sigh of relief. He wasn't sure if the chalk would work on marble at first, but it worked out fine.

He finally looked up to find Ed's eyes narrowed at him. He smirked.

"Come on, let's get some rest. We're leaving early tomorrow morning."

"Leaving?" Ed echoed suspiciously, turning to lean on the altar and crossing his arms over his chest, "I don't know what's gotten into your head, bastard. I don't plan on leaving."

"Ed, you've been here for months. You've seen all that you could possibly see. What else do you have to look for here?"

Those feral eyes narrowed even further, that slight body bristling as if threatened, "Why did you come, Mustang?"

"Alphonse is worried about you. He wants you to come home."

"Home?" Ed scoffed loudly, scuffing a gloved hand across his forehead and leaving a gray smear of dust and dirt behind, "What home?"

"Central," now it was Roy's turn to be defensive when Ed gave a dry laugh, "and I was hoping to convince you to come back to the military- for now, at least."

He added the last part quickly, seeing Ed's look of utter incredulity. The blonde shook his head but pushed off the slab and made his way to the fire, collapsing onto the pew a few feet away from Roy.

"Why do you need me all of a sudden?"

"Have you not heard any news at all recently?"

"Just answer the damn question, Mustang. Fuck, can you give a straight answer? It's always a question for a question. I'm sick of that shit."

It sounded like a response the old Ed would have given, if it hadn't been dripping tiredness and resignation. Instead of arguing or bantering like he usually would have, Roy took in that tone and decided to acquiesce, even more put-off when Ed didn't comment or appear taken aback.

"Drachman terrorists have been attacking Amestris. We're not sure how large the group is, but it's big enough to cause alarm. There have been bombings, all out attacks on North Command, and other incidents spread throughout Amestris. Many soldiers have already been killed. The military's main goal is to stop them of course, but I need help on my end."

Ed seemed to mull it over in his head. Mustang hadn't missed how the blonde's spine straightened and those eyes shifted from glazed to sharp in the matter of a split second as soon as he mentioned the Drachmans. Now if Roy just played his cards right…

"Really, Mustang? Drachmans? We expected this, you know. There has always been terrorist activity on our north and west borders because of them. Military's own damn fault for not being more prepared… well, do you have any specifics? Any last known location for one of their cells?"

Mustang held the smile off his face. Of course Ed would walk right into it, he always did.

"I apologize, Mr. Elric. That is confidential military information."

Ed's jaw dropped, "Are you serious, Mustang? You're going to play games with me now?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Elric."

"Sure you don't, bastard. And don't call me Mr. Elric. Sounds fucking weird. I'm still an alchemist, you know."

Roy hummed, "True, but your title was revoked when your state license expired. Maybe if you renewed it…"

"Fuck you, Mustang."

Finally, that hot-tempered, snapping tone that reminded Roy of a dog barking at the end of its leash, trying to sink its teeth in a stranger's throat. He hadn't realized he'd missed it. As soon as the insult sank in, a pleasant warmth spread through the general's chest and seeped upwards, forcing a smirk onto his face that he wouldn't have been able to force back down if he tried.

"Go to sleep, Ed. We'll talk in the morning."

Growling, the eighteen year old alchemist grabbed the edges of his coat and swung them over himself as he curled up on the pew, tucking the edges around himself as he shifted just a bit closer to the fire. Roy watched him settle before stretching and crossing his legs under himself, leaning back against the pew and closing his eyes. It wasn't comfortable, but he'd slept in considerably worse conditions.

He looked forward to tomorrow. He'd drawn Ed in, he could only hope the blonde would agree to come in. It was like he'd thrown out a lure. Now he just had to wait for the contemplating fish to latch onto the bait. Then he could reel him in so fast the boy wouldn't even realize he was caught until it was too late.

_'I'm doing this for him,'_ Roy told himself as he began to drift into a light slumber, _'he needed help. I came, found him, am taking him home, and am even giving him something to focus on. Plus, we could really use his help.'_

The thought finally sank in and he felt a chill of both exhilaration and dread ripple through his aching bones.

He and his men were going to be working with the Fullmetal Alchemist once again. Which disaster would come first?

**AN: And there's chapter one. I know, it's pretty boring. Though some things seem jumbled and pointless, it will all fit in later, promise! I would love to hear all of your thoughts- should I keep going, should I trash this before I really get started?  
Also, chapter two is complete and I would like to note that it is my sincerest hope that I will be able to update weekly.  
Thanks for reading, everyone! Au revoir~**


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